NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. stocks drifted lower Thursday morning, a day after the market wrapped up its worst quarter in four years. Energy stocks bucked the downward trend as the price of oil turned higher.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped seven points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,912 as of 11:32 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average slid 129 points, or 0.8 percent, to 16,154, and the Nasdaq composite fell 35 points, or 0.8 percent, to 4,584.
JOBS AHEAD: Investors are looking ahead to Friday when the government releases its monthly report on jobs. Economists forecast that employers added 200,000 workers to their payrolls last month. Strong hiring would likely raise expectations that the Federal Reserve will increase its benchmark interest rate at its next meeting. Fed officials have said they expect to start raising rates before the end of the year.
ROUGH STRETCH: Mounting concerns about slowing global economic growth and the timing of the Fed’s first interest-rate hike in nearly a decade battered markets over recent months. The S&P 500, the most widely used measure of U.S. investments, has lost 8 percent in three months.
“It has been a painful experience, but that’s what creates opportunities,” said Tom Dinegan, an equity strategist at UBS Wealth Management. “I think there’s more panic in the market than there is in the economy.”
CRUDE: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 45 cents to $45.54 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international benchmark, slipped four cents to $49.02 a barrel on the ICE exchange in London.
ACROSS THE ATLANTIC: In Europe, Germany’s DAX fell 1.8 percent, and France’s CAC-40 rose 0.9 percent. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was unchanged.
CHINA: An official measure of manufacturing in China rose in September, up from its lowest level in three years. China’s economic growth held steady at 7 percent in the latest quarter ending in June.
ANALYST’S TAKE: “When it comes to China these days, as long as the figures are not terrible they are deemed to be respectable, and while the market is closed for holidays it will entice buyers back into the mix,” said David Madden, market analyst at IG. Chinese markets are closed until the middle of next week.
ASIA’S DAY: Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.9 percent, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.8 percent, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.8 percent.
BONDS & CURRENCIES: Prices for U.S. government bonds rose, pushing the yield on the 10-year Treasury note down to 2.03 percent from 2.05 percent late Wednesday. The euro slipped to $1.1194 while the dollar dipped to 119.66 yen.